Fleeting Times
Army "Join us?" Laughter followed those simple words, men and women clutched either their faces or stomachs, tears at the corner of their eyes. A very young Draco D. Damon stood tall, though he barely reached a soldier's waist, and with his arms crossed. For his clothing, he wore simple blue shorts and shirt, alongside simple shoes. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" "AKARKARKARKARKARKAR!" What had even been the joke? Surely it was something only adults could comprehend... Damon frowned, curving his lips downward, while his eyebrows went inwards. Maybe they were just like that, his vision fell for a moment, something else took space within his mind. "Why are you HIS son...?" A quite tall figure, donning a hat, stood in front of a poorly illuminated cell. "No... why are you my grand-" The figure clutched their chest, much as if those questions hammered against it. "Nnn..." Damon's eyes and body shivered, though that was lost on the coldness of the place, his arms wrapped around himself. All they did was put children down. Why were kids considered so inferior to them anyway? That was it, Damon was going to become the best adult one could know, he clenched his fists and dropped his frown. The first step was this... Though it was the first, it made Damon clench his teeth and sigh several times. Was that something proper... how could people understand each other in these situations so easily? "Like someone who would spend hours waiting in some kind of row." He thought and nodded at no one. "Have you ever brandished a weapon, kid?" The female soldier approached him, sipping a mug of beer afterwards. Biting into his lip, Damon responded. "I- I've lived-" A quick breath, "-in Wano before! I, I saw Ninja!" "Ninjas?" "Yes- And... cooking!" Another soldier, a man with orange hair, butted in. "Wano? Fool somebody else, boy." Gesturing with his hands, he spoke further. "Wano is controlled by one of the mightiest pirates out in the seven seas!" Eyes wide, Damon cooed, they knew about aunt Legs? "Y-Yes, Yes! I've met her-" More laughter, it engulfed the rest of his sentence. "Damn, I already told you," The man waved at Damon, "fool somebody else." "Akarlos, he is already fooling himself." "That's what you're saying, Alexandra." Akarlos smirked. Not even sparing another glance at them and dropping his gaze, Damon turned around in a heartbeat. It was then that both soldiers' eyes widened, and they jumped out of their seats, it seemed moreso that their reaction was quicker than they expected. "H-Hey!" Alexandra called out, she searched through her thoughts to discover why she was doing this, but it was to no avail. "Kid, you mentioned something like cooking..." Damon halted as well. "Yeah..." A single word. "Um," Akarlos scratched the side of his face. "Okay, sorry for laughing... um, we could try to fit you in for cooking?" "...Really?!" Damon held his fists up. "Yeah, like an apprentice," Alexandra nodded. "What is your name?" "Damon-" "Okay Damon!" Alexandra's hands clapped together. "What do you think about the idea?" Damon crossed his arms, tilting his head as he stared at nowhere, their attitudes had changed quite quickly. Yet, he let a smile overtake his expression. "Alright!" Huh, so that was it, Akarlos laughed a bit, they all began to walk once he motioned in a specific direction. Many things awaited them, surely the kid wasn't bluffing and truly wanted to help them, right, he had no reason to doubt Damon. "By the way kid..." Alexandra eyed Damon, receiving the same response, they were passing from the courtyard and into the big building, which contained part of the army. "What family are you from?" Matter of fact, children like him were often accompanied in this land, Asha, maybe something had happened for him to be alone. "Um..." Damon tapped a finger against his chin, looking down. "I only know momma's name!" Akarlos and Alexandra stood quiet and he took the chance. "H-Helena, yes." A chuckle escaped Akarlos' lips, which he licked the second after. "Hmmm, that sounds familiar." Alexandra rolled her eyes. "Of course it is, 11 out of 10 babies born here have it," A sigh. "Don't mind me... I know it references that moon deity, but, everyone freaking uses it! Kind of takes away..." Though, their surnames were different either way, Alexandra shrugged to herself. ---- "T-There are lots of people..." Damon muttered out, his eyes went to all corners of the stone facility. His walking had slowed down a bit, making him stay slightly behind Alexandra and Akarlos. None of the soldiers looked at them, merely chugging down their drinks and stuffing their mouths with food. They reached a big wooden door, the guards standing beside it opened it with a swift motion of their arms, Akarlos and Alexandra nodded at them. Damon hurried in as well, not sparing further glances. After walking through a slightly long and wide corridor, which was littered with light lamps, they found themselves in front of another door. The three went in, faced with a spherical room and its many shelves. Much to the top end of the room was a wide desk, many objects on top of it, and a big chair. Damon blinked several times when his eyes set over the empty chair. "Um... is this for the leader, um... It- It's empty?" "The leader's yet to be there," Akarlos mused. In that same moment, Alexandra had flipped herself over the desk and landed on the large chair. Oh. "Um, is it okay to sit there?" Damon glanced between Akarlos and Alexandra. "Are you going to report me to the leader, sweetie?" Alexandra leaned her head against her fist, elbow resting on the table. Drops of sweat surfaced from Damon's skin, his eyes widened, his shoulders tensed. "Um-" Both of them were staring at him, he felt the corners of the room zooming out from his vision, everything else gained immense proportions. And all of it threatened to tower over him by a signifficant margin. Shutting his eyes tightly, Damon spat. "Y-Yes!" It would come any moment then, their mockery. "That's what I like to hear!" Alexandra's voice had Damon opening his eyes wide, "Now do it, report it to me." "Y-You? Huh-" Akarlos, admist some chuckles, said. "Alexandra's the leader, kid." Damon's gaze shot from one to another. "T-That feels like secret information!" He partially covered his face with his hands, "Am I like some special agent who digs information through sheer psychological skills...?" Alexandra and Akarlos shared a glance. "Yes!" The former noted, pointing a finger at Damon, "the fact that you were going to do the report was what sold me in!" "Um, I don't understand-" A smile bloomed in Alexandra's face. "Despite your hesitation, you went for the choice that you thought to be correct!" Akarlos clapped several times and nodded his head. Damon tilted his head. "That I thought to be right- Then, is it not right-" "Listen Damon, what matters is that it's what you feel to be right." Akarlos walked until he stood by the side of the desk. Agreeing with a nod, Alexandra looked at Damon. "Those are your ideals," She pointed at his chest. "Ashanian are people with convictions, always-" Her hand slowly moved. "-believe in yourself." Alexandra's hand rested upon her heart. Blink, blink, Damon caught himself devoid of any reaction, thus, he beat his fists up and down. "R-Right, ma'am!" "Good, I'll send you to the supervisor, don't worry on what we said earlier, this is your chance to show your skills-" Alexandra got up from the chair, holding her fists up as well. "-then you'll pass that test!" ---- "...You didn't pass the test?" Alexandra muttered, her expression blank as she eyed a crying Damon, who shook his head several times and bit into his lips. "I'm do dorry, m'am." Damon's eyes twitched due to the ensuing tears. "I- I promise I'll do it, sorry, I d-don't want anybody angry..." Akarlos sighed and shrugged. "Well, I guess that's it-" "No." Damon and Akarlos stared with widened eyes at Alexandra. She had risen from her chair yet again, "We'll get you there." Alexanda pointed to Damon again, even Akarlos stepped back, her eyes and expression sharp. Frowning, Akarlos scratched the side of his head. "Listen, even if you are the leader, I don't think the examinat-" Sitting back in her chair, Alexandra pressed on. "He'll be there, even if he starts from somewhere else!" Though, at the same moment, she brought one of her hands to scratch her chin, looking at nowhere. "Oh wait!" Again, Akarlos and Damon held themselves against the sudden yell. Alexandra licked her lips, "You said something about cooking, right?" Damon nodded at her remark. "We have been needing another Sous Chef-" "Wait," It was Arkalos to interrupt this time, he frowned and took few steps towards Alexandra. "The kid as a sous chef? We don't even know his aptitude-" "That's why!" Alexandra bumped her fists up and down, a wide smile gracing her expression. "If he proves himself a competent one, people will surely let him stay." It was Damon's time to bump his fists like Alexandra had, his mouth formed an o and his eyes shone brighter than ever. "Y-You're doin' so much," Damon palmed his face, shaking his head a few times. "M-Much..." "Of course, ki- Damon!" Alexandra beamed at him. ---- "They're arriving soon, Damon," Alexandra said from the other side of the large kitchen, wherein she was observing Damon and the other present chefs doing their jobs, they were all dressed appropriately. "O-Okay, it's almost done!" Damon himself, using a ladle, had been mixing the ingredients they threw inside an extremely large bowl. It took somewhat of a dark color. Other cooks aided with their own utensils. Noting such color, Alexandra asked. "So... what exactly is this?" One of her eyebrows rose. One of the cooks quickly spoke, "This is a special rice, ma'am!" Cutting off Damon whose mouth was ready to utter the words. "It's Damon-san's suggestion." Alexandra looked at that cook, crossing her arms. "U-Um, I think he can explain better!" Damon's eyes widened and he stopped moving the ladle. With one hand, he scratched the back of his head. "O-Oh, right, uh..." Damn, she really had to ask such a question, yet, Damon tried not to waver. "The o-ones we used for this combo- No, we put a big quantity of black beans, tomatoes, and meat." Alexandra took to observing the mixture once again. "Hmmmmmm, I see." "We beat all of it, the beans and the rest to create a b-broth! I think that's the word..." Damon managed, his expression serious. "That way, when we mix it with the rice, it'll stick to and give it another color." "Texture." One cook corrected. "Right! We thought on doing them s-slowly, one ingredient then the next." The other cooks nodded rapidly at Damon's words, recalling the idea. "But this way is wayyy better, the rice gets more flavour, if we did them individually, one flavour would cover the other." Alexandra cooed at the explaination, she hadn't doubted Damon that much, but seeing this quick forethought and observing his dedication by herself, there were zero doubts. "W-Would you like to taste it?" Damon asked, looking up at Alexandra. "Oh," Waving her hands in front of herself, Alexandra tried to smile. "Heavens no, I'll wait alongside the rest of my personnel, don't want to seem privileged." Biting his lower lip, Damon nodded and focused on the dish. "O-Okay!" What a thing, he had finally been capable of producing the food to help other people, to provide them with happiness. Damon was basically about to work on the army, there was a possibility that he wouldn't, but he thought not of it. "We'll distribute to all of you once we're done!" Damon finished. Work... Damon finally got to work. Survivor Damon's mind was plagued with that word in that instant. Work. Memories came in right away. Memories of years before, June of 1556 specifically. "You're... still following me..." A rough voice said, pertaining to Draco D. Helena, she looked behind herself for the hundredth time. A sigh escaped her mouth, her eyes closed. Helena and another were in Tuqie, an island with an immense forest, such that it covered its entirety, casting a large shadow over the ground. The grass stood under both of their steps. "Mhm hm," A 3 year old Damon nodded, showing sharp teeth with a smile. He was in his true form, a dual-horned blue Oni, and was covered in a brown cloak. Helena shook her head. "I- I already told you, kid." Kneeling in front of him, she grabbed on to his cloak quite tightly. "Don't. Come. Along." Helena shook him lightly. "I don't even have anything with myself, I can't provide you with anything!" ...Couldn't she? Damon himself didn't ponder on Helena's words, many of them were so hard to understand. Still, she said something of providing, that would be like giving, he nodded at his own thoughts. "M- Mom, I... money... I work-" "No," Helena motioned side to side with her finger. "The key point of our talk is that we shouldn't be together." Damon's white eyes acquired tears and he twisted his mouth downwards. "It's not like you can find a job either, you're just a kid, not even I got to find something..." ---- The two continued to walk through the island, Helena's warnings that Damon should stop gradually decreased, just as the night came over. They found themselves face to face with a rowdy dock, it was made of wood and actually had a few ships nearby, those ships were about the same size, except for one in the middle. That one seemed to be twice, almost thrice, the size of the others, Damon's eyes shone at seeing it. "Hoyyy," A muscled and tanned man, wearing sailor clothes, gestured with his hand. He was standing over the deck's side, holding on to a rope. "Last call for the passengers to Asha! Last call!" Helena's eyes almost budged out of her skull, had it been that close? Wasting no time, she dashed towards the captain, passing by a really large man with pale skin. Damon tried tagging along, though, his steps were way slower, then, he bumped into that pale man. "S-Sowwy." Damon tried saying. "Hello li'l guy!" This man was really large, but, the oddity was certainly his skin. "My name is Regin, you wanting to go to Asha too?" ... Tutor Hang Kill Category:DamonDraco Category:Role-Plays Category:Solo Role-plays